Cover crops are an important part of no-till and minimum-till agricultural conservation systems. For the purpose of this disclosure, the term “cover crops” includes crops that are intentionally allowed to remain in a target field as a means of improving growing conditions in the field. Cover crops include crops that are grown for the sole purpose of enhancing growing conditions in anticipation of a subsequently planted cash crop, as well as crop stalks and residue that remain in a field after the harvest of a previous cash crop.
Among other things, cover crops reduce soil erosion, increase soil moisture retention, increase soil organic matter, suppress weeds, and reduce soil compaction. However, these benefits are derived primarily through the cover crop biomass that remains on (or under) the soil surface after the cover crops are terminated. To plant a subsequent cash crop, a seed drill or other planting mechanism must penetrate the biomass and deposit a seed at a selected soil depth beneath the cover crop biomass.
Prior art inventions that perform a similar function are known as “row cleaners”. Row cleaners generally comprise a plurality of spiked wheels positioned just ahead of the seed planting mechanism. As the spiked wheels rotate, the spikes part the cover crop residue so that a seed planting mechanism is not obstructed by the cover crop.
Although row cleaners are marginally effective with short, dried cover crops, when the cover crops are tall (as with rye), the spiked wheels themselves are quickly entangled in the cover crop biomass so that the row cleaners are essentially useless. Even in ideal applications, the mechanical nature and continuous rotation of the row cleaners' spiked wheels results in relatively frequent breaking and jamming of the rotating mechanisms. In many applications row cleaners do not improve the planting process and their use only results in unnecessary drag and mechanical down time.
The need exists for a light weight residue manager/row cleaner with minimal moving parts that is capable of increasing the effectiveness of a no-till/minimum-till planting mechanism. The crop residue manager of the current invention deflects the stalks of a cover crop away from an associated planting mechanism and then flattens the crop residue adjacent to the planting mechanism so that the planting mechanism effectively penetrates the cover crop biomass and does not become entangled in the residue.